“He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe will be damned,” Jesus declares in Mark 16:16.
The pope cannot change the teachings of Jesus to fit the wishful thinking of the times.
Many atheists were baptized. In fact, in the overall scheme of life, most people were Baptized. So I think it will be very crowed in Heaven according to you.
I don’t see this as Francis changing the teachings of Jesus. He did come to redeem every human person. Whether or not we accept that redemption and act upon it is up to us. Does that make sense to you?
It is exactly the teachings of Jesus that he teaches.
Jesus defines “believing” many times as DOING WHAT HE TEACHES not professing belief or making vain declarations or showy appearances in a church. In particular in Matthew 25:31-46 he speaks of separating all mankind into those who feed the hungry, clothe the poor, visit the prisoner (his sheep) ... and those who do not as “goats” who are rejected no matter how vehemently they claim to be righteous church goers.